Marshall R-V70P 7" LCD vs Innovatek 7" LCD
 

As promised, here are screen shots and a few comments comparing the Marshall R-V70P-HDA 7" LCD to the Innovatek IN007VG "cheap" 7" LCD with VGA inputs. We're feeding the VGA inputs using a component to VGA adapter. The results were a mix of the expected, and with regard to resolution, the unexpected.

Zotz has the Marshall: http://www.zotzdigital.com/item.php?...&mark=marshall

The Innovatek, you'll have to search as I doubt they are dvinfo sponsors..

Thanks for the test & the photos. It's hard to tell from the photos alone whether the Innovatek with composite signal would be adequate for focus assist. What do you think? To your eye, did the Innovatek with composite look good enough for a focus assist monitor?

Thanks again.

H.

By the way, I specifically have in mind DV rather than HD.

There's no question that the Innovatek would be fine as a focus aid, particularly if you crank sharpness which you can adjust when using a composite feed. It is a little better then a standard 7" DVD portable player screen..which I've also tested for use as a monitor.

Using the HD feed, the res chart reads about the same (compared to the Marshall) when the VGA input is used..just a lot noisier on the Innovatek. The digital camera definitely didn't respond too well to the video noise, but to the bare eye I could not see a difference in resolution. The noise is probably coming from the component to VGA adapter, so a better unit might take care of this.

Other Monitors
 

Has anyone had any experience with Xenarc or Phylon monitors? They have the same native resolution as the Marshall, higher contrast and brightness ratings than Innovatek, have a wireless remote and are touch screen. They run between $300-400(USD).

I've not been able to find any reviews or comparisons and would love some opinions.

how would you power the innovatek in the field?

Ryan, I own the Xenarc 800YV and I've got the component/VGA adapter Dennis used coming in the mail. I'll have an opinion posted here soon. As of right now, using composite in, I'm getting a fairly good result as-is. I just got back from a music video shoot and I used the Xenarc as a focus aid, and did pretty well, although it wasn't much better than the on-board FX1 LCD. I've basically just been using that to focus, with the peak function enabled.

Check out ebay for some great deals on 5-6Ah 12v batteries, then just wire on the power plug. I got a 12v, something like 6 amp hour battery for around $100 with charger, and it goes and goes and goes with my Xenarc. Love it. A bit bulky though.

www.all-battery.com is a great battery source, albeit a little intimidating if you're not familiar with battery types and specifications.

Thanks
 

Ben, thanks for the input.

I noticed the 800YV you mentioned has a native resolution of 600x480, thus 4:3. If you filmed in 16:9 and maintained the same aspect ratio on the Xenarc, you'd only effectively be using about 600x337 pixels. I would imagine this would be somewhat comparable to the FX1's flip-out LCD.

Xenarc also has the 700YV widescreen version with a native resolution of 800x480. You would essentially be using the full resoltion of this monitor when filming in 16:9. This would hopefully be superior to nearly all flip-out LCD's and is currently the one I'm leaning toward.

I guess, when it comes to resolution though, no moderately priced, medium sized LCD is going to have the same resolution that these HD camera's capture. Even the $1,000 (USD) Marshall's only have a native resolution of 800x480.

Aside from the resolution, how did you like other aspects of the Xenarc such as: color, noise, build quality, etc.? These are the only areas I could see something like the Marshall trumping the Xenarcs and Phylons.

Thanks again for your thoughts,

Ryan

i think the picture on the Marshall does look ten times better on the HD!!

Since using my Marshall on my HVX with the Brevis I always get pin sharp images. It was a very worthwhile investment for me.

Small High Definition LCD's will be hitting the market soon. They are already being used in UMPC's.

Sanyo-Epson have a 1080p 7 inch LCD that will be used in mobile digital tv's.
They also are releasing a 1024x768 lcd panel that is 2.6 inches!

I love technology ;)

Agreed on the Marshall Phil. Having external image controls and a nice clean image definitely make it my choice to look at. I'm just trying to convince myself to actually buy it :-) There are other factors there that I haven't discussed, like the much stronger metal enclosure, XLR power jack, etc. and for a high use monitor, you need to factor these items in.

I own the Marshall and I'm not extremely happy with it. But it seems to be the next best (and cheapest) thing from the Panasonic 8.4". I just can't plunk down $4k for an lcd monitor... when next year I could probably get a 1080p monitor will all the doodads (blue channel, waveform, flip, etc.) for less than half that.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Mp3PlayerStore read these before ordering the Innovatek! I may have gotten lucky there as I did not have a problem.

That comment on opened the parcel to find a brick inside is very funny, although I am sure the buyer doesn't think so. Glad you actually got your monitor Dennis!

P.S. Still no firewire on my mac, going to reinstall my OS